Article-handling device for racks



Nov.v 3, 1959 F. M. BALUCK ETAL ARTICLE-HANDLING DEVICE FOR RAcxs 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 26, 1954 Nov. 3, 1959 F. M. BALUCK ETALARTICLE-HANDLING DEvIcE FOR RAcxs 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 2e, 1954Nov. 3, 1959 F. M. BALUcK ET AL 2,911,087

l ARTICLE-HANDLING DEVICE FOR RAcKs Filed Nov. 26, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3United Staf@ Pate-m 2,911,037 .i ARTICLE-HANDLING nEvicE Fon RACKsFrancis IM. Baluclr, Oak"ark,' nton J. Brunner, Con- '-'g1 ess Park, andHeinz F. Runge, Chicago, Ill., assignors fo Western Electric f Company,-Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation oi New York ApplicationNovember 26, '1954, serial No. 471,232' s Claims. (cl. lss-26) Thisinvention relates to conveyors, and more Aparticularly to escapementdevices for conveyors of racks carrying wire spring ,relay combs.

An object of the invention is to provide new and improved conveyorsVforwire spring relay combs.

' Another object of the `invention is to provide apparatus forautomatically* transferring racks of articles lfrom chutes orslidevs toconveyors.

"Another object ,of the invention is to providel a new and improvedapparatus forfeeding racks seriatim from slides to a trackway.

An article-handling device illustrating certain features of theinvention may include a slide down which article- 4may include a`plurality of racks for holding and masking portions of wire springrelays and a gritblaster for blast- Ying' flash from the wire springrelay combs.` A pai'r of railsfare provided along which krollers on theracks rest to transport the racks. through the grit blasten'and' aninclined ramp orzslide having an indexing orV escapement mechanism atthe 'lower end thereof which is provided for supplying the racksQone ata time to the guide rail. The escapement mechanismmay include threepairsof stops spatzedalong the ramp so .operable that when the .intermediatepairof' stops are .nretracted positions the .end

pairs'of stops'block movement ofthe racks vdown the slide, and whentheend pairs of stops are retracted, the

intermediate pair of stops is in blocking position to let only one rackmove "off the slide at one time. The slide may .be so constructedand-arranged that the racks tilt as they slide down the slide, and meansare provided at the Y n lower .end offtheV slide .to permit the racks,to swing to 'vertical positions and tofdamp swinging .of the racks. Acomplete understanding of the invention may be obt-ained fromthefollowing detailed description of aconveyorforminga specific embodiment"thereof when read v4 in conjunction 'with the appended drawings, inwhich;

Fig. 1 lis a fragmentary, Vertical section `of a portion -ofjA aconveyor forming a'specifc embodiment of the invention; 7

Fig. 2iis aV fragmentary vertical section taken along rline 2-2 of Fig;l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, partiallyA sectional, top plan -view takenalong line y3a-310i Fig. 1; i

Fig'. '5 is a vertical section taken along line 5 -5 in naar; j.

Fig, 6 is an `enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken along-line646Qof Fig..1;..'.1V f

Fig. 4 isa fragmentary vertical section similar t'o-Fig. 2;

2,911,087 y lfif'atented Nov. 3, 1959 f Fig. a vertical section takenalong line 7-j7 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8f is an enlarged elevation of aportionof the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; and v Fig. 9 is 'a verticalsection taken along line 9-"9 of Fig.8. Referring now in detail to thedrawings, there is shown thereina machine for grit blasting wire springrelay combs 10I (Fig.` 8) to remove flash from wires 11 of the combsadjacent to plastic blocks 12 molded around the wires. The combs areplaced on carrying fixtures or racks 21, each of which is provided witha carrying rod 22 fastened rigidly to the top of a frame 19, and pairsof rollers 23 and 24 are mounted on the frame below the rods 22. Thecombs 10 are clamped on the frame by an apertured door 26 mountedpivotally on a springmounted pin 27 and latched in position by a latch28.

The door 2 6' is provided with aj groove 29 and the frame 19`with agroove 30 for receiving andmasking a molded bar 3.2 .of th'e` c omb 10to protectthe 'bar 32 during l blasting. The door 26 also is providedwith va groove 33 for'masking Vdowelpins 34 secured to the block 12.When the door is not secured by thelatch 28, the pin 27 urges itto anopen position slightly greater than 90 from its closed position. Theracks 21 are placed on guide'rails 55 of a chute 56 (Figs. 1 and 3)supported by posts 61 extending upwardly from a plate 62 mounted on a.column 63. As the racks 21 travel down the chute 56 they pass underupper guides 77 and come to escape'- ment bars 78 .of an escapement unit79 (Figs. 2 and 6), drivable through racks 80 and 81 and pinions 82 xedto a shaft .8 3. The shaft..83 is mounted ,rotatably in fixedv supportsand 86, which'lalso support rotatably a shaft.87 having pinions 88 keyedthereto and 'gare connected by a plate 84. The shaft 87 is connectedthrough gearing 89 in a xedhousing 90 to a shaft 91fhaving a lever92`keyed thereto and supporting a roller 93 at its freeuend. The lever92 normally is biased to the position vthereof shown in Fig. 6 by atorsion spring 94 secured vatits ends to the shaft 87 and to the support8 6.

However,` when the'lever 92 is swung in a clockwise direction, as viewedin Fig. 6, the shaft 87 turns the pinions 88 keyed thereto in adirection lifting stop bars 97 hav- Yinggearrack portions. 98relative-to the supports 85 and86 and the chute 56. The Vpinions 83 alsoengage rack portions of stop bars 99-to move the bars 9 9 downwardlyinto the path of the article-carrying racks 21 on the chute 56, and gearrack portions 100 on the bars 99 turn the pinions 82 to raise the stopbars 78 out'of the paths of the rods 22 of the racks 21 onthe springs105. Pins 106 limitcounterclockwise movementl of the levers 113,'and endportions 107 of' the levers-113 act as stops tov limit swinging'of` theracks 21 in a clockwise direction. This rack 21 then hangs vertically. iA resilient p'ad 114 composed of polytetrauoroethylene is mounted on avertical stop plate 1 15 supported by the plate 62 for taking the impactof the swing of the rack 21' as it comes olf the rods 112.

The lever 92 is swung against the action of the spring i l 9 4, asdescribed above, by a cam lug 116 carried by` Y a bltttegtseveyof Chain117 @fs- 11C-swingen lever 92, the spring 94 returns the lever 92( andthe bars J8, 97 and 99 to their former positions in whichthe :bars 78land `97 stop movement of the racks 21 down .the chute 156,; and thebars 99 are retracted to release the rack 21 held thereby, which slideson down to the bars 9,7. The motion of the bars 78 and `97 relative tothe bars '99 is such that the bars 7S and 97 are in rack-,blockingpositions before the bars 99 are withdrawn from rackblocking positions.The chain 117 has rollers 119 having peripheral ribs 120 which travelalong .grooves 12 in C- guides .'1'24 and -125 supported by-standards126.

As each rack 21 is released by the bars 97, it slides .down the chute 56and drops o the yend thereof Vonto supporting rollers 12.1 and onto aguide rail 122 .over which the rollers 23 `and 24 project. An end 123 ofthe guide rail 55 prevents the upper portion of the rack 21 frombouncing back to the right, as viewed in Fig. 5. Then, as the next lug116 comes along to the chute 5,6,

the lug engages the rod 22 of the rack10 just releasedby the bars 97 andpushes the rack edgewise along the guide rails 122 =`and128 (Figs. 2 and3), the guiderail 128' having acamming portion 129 which centers therack l21 between the guide vrails '122 and 128 as the rack 121 is movededgewise therebetween.

Vlrl`he lugs '116 push the racks 21 edgewise along the guide rails 122and y122 through a grit blaster (not shown) of a well known type, inwhich grit is blown against the portions of the wires 11 adjacent tolthemolded blocks 12 and 32 (Fig. 10) to clean flash formed in moldingthe blocks from the wires. The door-26 and the body `19 bf the rack 21mask the blocks 12 and 32 from the grit while the ash is removed fromthe portions of the wires adjacent thereto. f

The above-described apparatus serves to leieetively feedthe racks 21from the chute 5-6 to the tracks 122 and |128 without possibility ofjamming thereof, and feeds the Vracks surely. Certain features of theapparatus described above are disclosed and claimedin-copendingapplication Serial No. 471,201, led November 26, 1954, by A. I.Brunner-and J. R. Marcus for Article-Handling Devices. l

I-t is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simplyillustrative ofthe application of theV `principlesof this invention.

' ments may be readily devised by those skilledin the art rack from ytherails and' slide down the1'ails`,-means;forv

Numerous other arrangethe escapement, a spring-pressed damping leverpositioned so as to be moved bythe rack as the rack swingsv'away fromthe tilting means and prevent swinging of the rack back to the' tiltingmeans, a trackway for receiving the racks fromlthe rails, anda resilientbumper positioned at the trackway for damping swinging of the racks.

3. An article-handling device, which comprises a pair of inclined rails,a plurality of racks each of a predetermined height and having portionsVvextending from opr`posite edges Vat the upper 'end thereof forv-.ngaging `the rails to suspendthe rack from the rails and slide down-the rails, a trackway positioned lat the lower ends .of the rails forreceiving the racks therefrom, means for tilting the racks as the racksslide down the rails, said tilting means serving to release each rack asthat rack approaches the trackway, and a movably mounted swing dampingmeans positioned so as to be engaged and moved by a rack as the rack isreleased from the tilting means and prevent yswinging of the rack backtothe tilting means.

4. An article-handling device, which comprises a plurality of racks eachof a predetermined height and having slide portions extending fromopposite edges near the upper end thereof, a trackway, a pair ofinclined rails sloping downw-ardly to the trackway for supporting theracks from the slide portions, means for lretarding the lower ends oftheracks relative to the upper lends thereof as the racks slide down therails, said retarding jmeans serving to release each rack as that rackmoves to the lower ends of the rails, a spring-pressed arm `positionedso as to bevmoved by Aa rack as the rack swings away `from the retardingnieans to lessen swinging of therack, and a resilient bumper positionedat the trackway'for damping swinging of the racks. i

5. lAn article-handling device, which comprises a plurality of rackseach having pins projecting from the ends thereof, a pair of inclinedguide rails down which thepins may slide, a rst pair of stops, a secondpair of stops, ka third pair of stops, means for mountingzthe pairs ofstops at the lower end of the guiderails movably between forwardpositions extending into the path of the racks and retracted positionsout of the path ofthe racks and in positions Vin which the secondpair ofstops is positioned -between the other pairs of stops, rack and pinion'means for moving the pairs of stops so that the second pair of. stopsis inits retracted position when the other pairs of stops are in'forward positions and the second pair, ofstops is in its forwardposition when the ,other Apairsof stopsrare in their retractedpositions, guide means spaced from the inclinedguide rails for tiltingthe racks approaching thefirst of the rst pair of stops to permitswinging of the racks to a vertical position as the racks pass saidfirst pair of stops,

v posite edges thereof, a pair of` inclined guide rails down tilting theracks as the racks' slide on the rails, a movably mounted swing-dampingbellcrank supported lin a normal position, one arm of said bell crankprovidedwith a cam `surface so as to vbe engaged and moved-by eachrackras the rack swings away from the'tilting means, and means lforbiasing the bell crankl to said normal position so as to prevent reboundof the aforementioned racks. 2.An article-handling device,`kwhichcomprises a Vpair of inclined rails, a plurality of racks each of apredetermined height and having slide portions extending from y oppositeedges at the upper end of the rack. forengaging -ends ofthe rails forpermitting the racks to slide off the rails one at a time, means fortilting the racks as the means servingto 'release'each rack to permitthe rack to vswingto a vertical position as the rack moves. through Yracks slide down the rails to the escapernent,A said tilting i which thesupports may slide, escapement means mounted at the lower en d of theguide railsmovable between a rack-blocking position and a retractedposition out of the path of the rack, guide meanspositioned below theguide railsifor tilting each rack as it Aapproaches the escapement meansto prevent swinging of the racks as the rack engages the escapementmeans, said guide means terminating in the vicinity of the escapement topermit swinging of a rackvpassing through the escapement, and'spring-biased levers positioned to engage and retard swinging of a rackpassing through the escapement.

7. An article-handling device, which comprises a plurality ofracks eachYhaving p ins `projectingfrom vthe ends thereof, a pair of inclinedguide railsrdown which the pins may slide, a first pair of stops, asecond pair of stops,'a third pairof stops, means for mounting thepairsof stops at the lower end of the guide rails-movably betweenforretracted positions out of the path of ythe racks and in positions inwhich the second pair of'stops is positioned between Ithe other pairso-f stops, rack and pinion means for moving the pairs of stops so thatthe second pair of stops is in its retracted position when the otherpairs of stops are in forward positions and the second pair of stops isin its forward position when the other pairs of stops are in theirretracted positions, guide means positioned below the guide rails fortilting eachrack as it approaches the rst pair of stops to preventswinging of the rack, said guide means permitting each rack to swingtherefrom as the rack moves from the rst pair of stops to the secondpair of stops, a pair of ieversurged into the path of each rack as therack swings from the guide means to slow the swinging of the rack and to'limit the return swing of the rack.

8. An article-handling device, which comprises a p1urality of racks eachhaving pins projecting from the ends thereof, a pair of inclined guiderails down which the pins may silde, a first pair of stops, a. secondpair of stops, a third pair of stops, means for mounting the pairs ofstops at the lower end of the guide rails movably between forwardpositions extending into the path of the racks and retracted positionsout of the path of the racks and in positions in which the second pairof stops is positioned between the other pairs of stops, rack and pinionmeans for moving the pairs of stops so that the second pair of stops isin its retracted position when the other pairs of stops are in forwardpositions and the second pair of stops is in its forward position whenthe other pairs of stops are in their retracted positions, guide meanspositioned below the guide rails for tilting each rack as it approachesthe stops to prevent swinging of the racks, and a latch for permittingeach rack to swing therepast in one direction and preventing swingingmovement of the rack thereback.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 465,018Foote Dec. 15, 1891 1,923,663 Coda Aug. 22, 1933 2,191,153 Harmon Feb.20, 1940 Fedorchak et al Feb. 15, 1944

